Babylon 5 is finally being rebooted with JMS in charge
I used to love Babylon 5 back in the 90s. I have been wary of revisiting it as I worried it might be a crap. Well, I shall worry no longer as they are bringing it back but now in rebooted form. And J. Michael Straczynski is once again at the helm.
What is Babylon 5 about?
I would do a description myself, but the Verge has received a nice summary of the new one from Warner Bros. It sounds almost identical to the original, so let’s go with it:
In a from-the-ground-up reboot of the original series, John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.
What is the point and is the original worth it?
Battlestar Galactica taught us that reboots can be frackin’ awesome. Modern science fiction or fantasy TV shows like The Expanse or Game of Thrones show how special effects for the small screen can be brilliant. Granted, they have the budget a 90s tv show would weep over, but this is the world we live in. I would imagine Babylon 5 would have a hefty budget.
As to whether the original series is still worth watching, I would have to go with yes. I remember the first series being a bit wonky in places but then so was Farscape and DS9. It was a forgiving age and all three shows just got better and better. By the end of each, they were brilliant, with satisfying and complete story arcs. And I am not being swayed by my lust for Claudia Christian, Claudia Black, or Terry Farrell.
I suspect we are a while away from from the reboot, so if you haven’t seen the original, you can watch the remastered Babylon 5 here. If memory serves me correctly, stick with it, and you are in for a brilliant story.
You can also follow updates on J. Michael Straczynski’s twitter feed:
